Against the Dead Hand
The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism
By Brink Lindsey
John Wiley & Sons
368 pgs. US$29.95/C$46.50
ISBN: 0-471-44277-1
The struggle for economic freedom
By Steven Martinovich
web posted May 13, 2002
Fewer words have a dirtier reputation among both liberals and
conservatives as does globalization. It's an interesting historical
footnote that while the Seattle riots were largely the work left-
wing radicals, more than a few conservatives sympathized with
their avowed aim to stop the march of globalization even while
they excoriated them for their violent tactics. Both fear that the
sovereignty of nations is placed at risk, that unfettered trade
destabilizes societies, that globalization smashes indiscriminately
elements in our carefully ordered socities.
In Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global
Capitalism, Brink Lindsey argues that far from being a dangerous
force, globalization - or perhaps more accurately, global
capitalism - promises to usher in an era of unparalleled
prosperity. In fact, he says at several points, we are only in a
transition period between an era of collectivism - the dead hand
that the book's title refers to - and a future of unrestrained trade.
"When the swirl of contemporary events is placed in proper
context, it becomes clear that globalization is not some demonic
force unloosed the world. Rather, it has been a deliberately
chosen response to the worldwide failures of central planning
and top-down control," he writes early on.
As Lindsey tells it, globalization was in full progress in the late
19th century. Led by nations like Britain, trade laws across the
planet were being liberalized, promoting not only the freer
movement of goods but also of people. Unfortunately, however,
the movement towards greater economic freedom was derailed
by two successive world wars and the increased centralization
that came after. Where the consensus was once that barriers to
trade were an anathema, the story of the 20th century was more
Karl Marx's Dead Hand then Adam Smith's Invisible Hand.
Given the vitriol that the opponents of globalization bring to the
table, Lindsey took on what is often a thankless job. Global
capitalism, arising out of the rubble of a century's worth of
collectivist destruction, is in "a twilight era juxtaposed between
the statist past and a liberal future," and as such its defenders are
subject to attacks by the partisans of top-down planning, or
what Lindsey calls the Industrial Counterrevolution. For
proponents of global capitalism, it's a comforting note when
Lindsey declares, "Hostility to markets remains, and remains
formidable, but only as a force of reaction."
Global capitalism, argues Lindsey, faces a long haul before it
becomes a reality. Free trade, whether between nations or
individuals, rests on important pillars like adequate legal
institutions that protect capitalism's participants. In many nations
around the world, even those who subscribe to the merits of free
trade, legal structures are at best half-built. For those nations
who have turned their backs on collectivism, such as Russia,
there is still plenty of work to be done before they can claim the
title of free economies. Global capitalism's foes seem to rail more
against a perceived threat than any actual one considering how
far we have yet to go before trade is fully liberalized.
Lindsey's exploration of the issues and history behind
globalization is masterful and compelling, a tour de force expose
of the incalculable damage that something as seemingly esoteric
as trade barriers and overweening government intervention have
done to the prosperity of humanity. Although global capitalism
has a long way to go before economic freedom can declare
victory - something Lindsey warns about - the path to global
prosperity has gained adherents in nations that only a decade ago
trumpeted some of the most grotesque economic policies.
Against the Dead Hand is really two books intertwined into one.
It is a sober examination of the fight that the advocates of the
free market have faced since the day Smith's The Wealth of
Nations first appeared but it is also a celebration of the ethos of
capitalism. Lindsey's effort isn't just a call to man the lines against
the desperate rearguard actions of a discredited collectivist
movement, it's a clarion call urging us to fight for our economic
freedom. And it is an impressive one at that.
Steven Martinovich is a freelance writer in Sudbury, Ontario.
Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com